The present invention relates to portable repositories for depositing spent smoking materials.
Because of the significant public opposition to smoking, as well as laws prohibiting smoking in many public facilities as well as corporate offices, smokers often find it necessary to dispose of a cigarette prior to entering a building. Also, because of restrictions to smoking in work places, restaurants, and the like, designated locations, where smoking is permitted, are often provided for smokers to fulfill their desire to have a smoke. In order to maintain such areas free of cigarette xe2x80x9cbuttsxe2x80x9d and to guard against a potential fire hazard, operators of public buildings, offices, restaurants, and the like often provide spent-cigarette repositories at entrances to such facilities. For the convenience of moving such repositories, for example for storage during non-operating hours of the day or on weekends, portable repositories are usually preferred.
Decorative and functionally convenient portable repositories are described in U.S. Design Pat. No. DES. 389,600 and U.S. Design patent application Ser. No. 29/158,244, which is assigned to the same Assignee as the present application. Both of those repositories feature a broad base having an upwardly extending slender column, with at least one opening to the interior of the repository disposed near the top of the column, so as to be at a convenient height for users. A non-flammable material, such as sand, or the like, can be placed in the base in order to promote extinguishing of the burning tobacco, and also to add weight at the base in order to provide a more stable repository. Plastic is a desirable material for fabricating such repositories as it is durable, easily cleaned and resistant to corrosion in often moist conditions, and molds can be provided for forming the plastic material into attractive shapes with accenting features, so as not to detract from a formal entrance to a building, for example. Also a variety of colors can be provided to the repositories which are carried through the total thickness of the molded walls so that scratches or nicks are nearly invisible thereby presenting an attractive appearance. Although plastic is a preferred material, other materials are available for forming the repository.
The above-described shape, that is a broad base and an upwardly extending column, although an attractive design, does not lend itself to packaging in a compact manner for shipping, or storage, when the repository is formed as a single piece. A hexahedron shaped carton to accommodate the described repository must have a cross section to accommodate the broad base which extends the entire height of the repository. A large portion of the volume of the carton is unoccupied by the repository. Such inefficient usage of storage or shipping cartons add to the cost associated with producing, inventorying, and shipping the product.
It is an object of the invention to provide a spent-cigarette repository having a column which is detachable from the broad base, so as to be able to provide more compact and efficient packaging for storage and shipping.
It is another object of the invention to provide a connecting means which provides a sturdy connection between the broad base and the column.
It is yet a third object of the invention to provide a method of forming the repository of a plastic material so as to reduce the number of molding operations required for producing the repository.
The present invention is a repository for spent smoking materials having a base for supporting the repository in a freestanding upright orientation on a horizontal surface and a hollow column for extending upwardly from the base. The hollow column is a separate piece from the base piece. A connector slidingly engages the base piece and the column piece so as to connect those pieces in a rigid manner. The connector slidingly engages connecting portions of the base and the column, which abut against each other. The connecting portions are mirror images of each other in a plane between the base connecting portion and the column connecting portion. Each of the connecting portions has engaging sections for engaging with mating engaging sections provided on the connector.
In a method for fabricating the repository, the base and column are molded as a single piece, then the single piece is severed at a plane so as to provide the connecting portions on the base and on the column. The connecting portions have a mirror image of each other in the plane in which severing takes place.